Snow Buntings are here!

 

Joined a group doing a bird hike this past weekend and I was able to see two lifers. This one, a Snow Bunting, was a long-sought-after target bird for the winter season.  Beautiful bird. If you want to find one, research their song first as you will likely hear them before you see them. The Ebird app will also point out where they have been seen near you in the past 7 days. They go as far south as maybe the Mason-Dixon line. Happy hunting. 

Coming in for a landing

 

Found a new birding spot that has become a hot spot for Illinois birders at Murihead Springs out in Elgin. These Sandhill Cranes put on a nice display with the watertower behind them. Caught two more lifers at this location but I will save those shots for another post. 

A little Halloween treat

 

I missed taking shots of Stephanie's kids but got a shot of Princess Noah in pink (and her school friend in blue), Fireman Graham and, in the shot below, raptor Eli. Hit about double the houses compared to last year as the kids are starting to get into it a bit more. The weather went from beautiful all fall to a bit of a chill yesterday for the first time this year. Lots of fun in the treating. 

Standing Guard

 

Was able to get up close and personal with a Bald Eagle on my last trip to Florida. Saw this as a silhouette with sunset happing behind the scene. Fun shot. 

London Eye

 

On our day trip around London, we did get the cloudy morning skies to break and give us a brief shot of nice blue skies. About a half hour before, we were briefly rained on but that went away quickly. The break in the clouds gave me a chance to get a nice shot of the London Eye. Never been up there. Maybe on another trip....

Echo's Turn

 

Echo showing off his soccer skills while on defense. 

Northern Lights from Naperville

 

For the second time in Naperville (and we have been here for over 25 years), I got to see the northern lights put on a display from my front stoop. It was just around 11:30pm and I started heading up to bed when I decided to step outside one last time to see if the reported display could be seen from my light polluted sky. After about 10 minutes of getting dark adapted, I started wondering if I was imaging splotches of red here and there in the sky. Took out the camera and I caught this one rather spectacular display, visual to the naked eye. The camera, with a 20 second shot, gets to see much more color than the naked eye can see but this vertical column was naked eye visible. So, quite fun to get to see this display.

If it continues into tonight, I might have to get my lazy self to a darker sky west of the city to see the display in darker light. We shall see!!!